Data storage devices such as disk drives comprise a disk and a head connected to a distal end of an actuator arm which is rotated about a pivot by a voice coil motor (VCM) to position the head radially over the disk. The disk comprises a plurality of radially spaced, concentric tracks for recording user data sectors and servo sectors. The servo sectors comprise head positioning information (e.g., a track address) which is read by the head and processed by a servo control system to control the actuator arm as it seeks from track to track.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art disk format 2 as comprising a number of servo tracks 4 defined by servo sectors 60-6N recorded around the circumference of each servo track. Each servo sector 6i comprises a preamble 8 for storing a periodic pattern, which allows proper gain adjustment and timing synchronization of the read signal, and a sync mark 10 for storing a special pattern used to symbol synchronize to a servo data field 12. The servo data field 12 stores coarse head positioning information, such as a servo track address, used to position the head over a target data track during a seek operation. Each servo sector 6i further comprises groups of servo bursts 14 (e.g., N and Q servo bursts), which are recorded with a predetermined phase relative to one another and relative to the servo track centerlines. The phase based servo bursts 14 provide fine head position information used for centerline tracking while accessing a data track during write/read operations. A position error signal (PES) is generated by reading the servo bursts 14, wherein the PES represents a measured position of the head relative to a centerline of a target servo track. A servo controller processes the PES to generate a control signal applied to a head actuator (e.g., a voice coil motor) in order to actuate the head radially over the disk in a direction that reduces the PES.
Data is typically written to data sectors within a data track by modulating the write current of a write element, for example, using a non-return to zero (NRZ) signal, thereby writing magnetic transitions onto the disk surface. A read element (e.g., a magnetoresistive (MR) element) is then used to transduce the magnetic transitions into a read signal that is demodulated by a read channel. The read element may be offset radially from the write element, and therefore when writing to the disk and/or when reading from the disk a “jog” value is added to the servo system to account for the writer/reader offset. Since the jog value may change across the radius of the disk due to the skew angle of the head, prior art disk drives typically calibrate a jog profile that spans the radius of each disk surface. The jog profile is then used to generate a jog value corresponding to the radial location of the head when accessing a target data track on the disk surface.